Cytes in the spam filtering project

Cyted by

Joe Dollard on Sep 21, 2009

useful resouce to test your spam assassin score (the port25.com site repots it), along with SPF and sender id checks

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We provide an e-mail based record tester. Send an e-mail to spf-test@openspf.org. Your message will be rejected (this is by design) and you will get the SPF result either in your MTA mail logs or via however your MTA reports errors to message senders (e.g. a bounce message). This is done to avoid the risk of backscatter from the tester. This test tests both MAIL FROM and HELO and provides results for both.

It uses the Python SPF (pySPF) library, which is fully compliant with the SPF specification. MTA services for this test are provided by Controlled Mail. This is an Open Patent service.

Cyted by

Joe Dollard on Apr 28, 2009

spf overview

In computing, Sender Policy Framework (SPF) allows software to identify messages that are or are not authorized to use the domain name in the SMTP HELO and MAIL FROM (Return-Path) commands, based on information published in a sender policy of the domain owner. Forged return paths are common in e-mail spam and result in backscatter. SPF is defined in RFC 4408.

Cyted by

Joe Dollard on Apr 28, 2009

perhaps worth setting up SPF to help prevent getting caught in junk folder

Windows Live Hotmail currently uses Sender ID to provide additional input to the SmartScreenTM junk e-mail filter process which determines if the e-mail or sender is legitimate. Once the sender has been authenticated, the results may then be cross-referenced to past traffic patterns and sender reputation, creating an associate weight in addition to the anti-spam content filters, all prior to determining whether to deliver e-mail to the recipient.

Cyted by

Joe Dollard on Apr 28, 2009

some mail may be completely deleted and not delivered to the user's spam folder

Rules inside Windows Live Hotmail are set to handle e-mail messages with various SCL ratings. If a message has an SCL rating lower than a certain threshold, it is considered spam and a rule then deletes the message rather than send the message to the users’ junk e-mail folders. If the message has a higher SCL rating than the threshold, the e-mail is delivered to the user's junk e-mail folder rather than to the inbox.

To learn more about this technology, please visit: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2003/nov03/11-17spamfilter.asp